Post by upliftingsound on Jun 12, 2012 8:23:47 GMT -5

How’s it going every one? I had a lot of fun with you all this last weekend. I hope you are all decompressing nicely. This was my 6th ‘roo, the first being in 2003. I’ve also been to scores of other festivals across the US, Europe, and Australia. I’ve been to Burning Man 5 times and have hit several regionals. For 5 of 6 ‘roos I’ve volunteered with a food vendor. I started doing it for the free ticket, but now it is more for a sense of purpose out there and a good credential.

The change started in 2006 with the first Radiohead show and at some point developed into a full on sea change. It used to be nothing but jam bands and we know what the lineups are like now. By and large I like this change as I’m not much of a jammer. When I was there in 2003 it was all hippies, heads as far as the eye can see. Those people just don’t come any more. Each year since 2006 the crowd has gotten younger and cleaner. I don’t see this as a good or bad thing, it is simply a thing.

But there is one part of this that bothers me. This new crowd seems to be lacking a value that was innately present with the hippies. They don’t know how to share.

This last Friday night I was at Radiohead with a lot of old friends. We realized that we were uncharacteristically without corn. We had a lot of beers though. I did what comes naturally, I yelled out beers for corn. A girl 20 feet in front of us put her hand up. I thought the problem was solved until someone else in her group whispered to her and she stopped looking at us. I asked if she changed her mind… yes. 10 minutes later when we were still in the same position I walked up to them. I explained our situation to her, told them I had a backpack full of beers, red bulls, 5 hours, waters, cash if preferred just needed a tiny bit of help. Sorry, we can’t do it. I thanked them and gave them a beer any way. Probably just an isolated incident… I proceeded to have almost the identical experience with a group of boys 20 feet behind us.

At late night that night I was near Black Star. I always hand out bottled water late night. I saw a mixed gender group that didn’t have any water. I went up to them and asked if they wanted a water. A sealed and cold bottle of water, mind you. The guy took it but the girls all asked why I would do that as in I was slipping them something. I understand safety, but come on. They clearly didn’t get it but what they did get from me was bottle of water and an earful about how they didn’t have water, about how people have a tendency to die at bonnaroo, and about a culture of sharing that appeared to be dying. It was at that point on Friday night that I knew I would be posting this.

Three different times on Sunday night people asked me to leave them alone. I approach people at random at Bonnaroo and talk to them. All the time. Talk about anything. It’s one of my favorite parts of the experience. I left them alone when asked though. And granted, I was pretty drunk, but I’m a friendly and non-threatening drunk. Kind of hurt my feelings to be honest. Eh.

We took a Fest Taxi from Pod 1 to Radiohead and cut up and acted the fool for the entire trip. We paid the fare for the entire cart upon arrival, most of whom we had just met. My point with that is that I’m not out here freeloading. I am giving and putting in. You don’t have to match me. I can also afford VIP at this point in my life for which I am thankful. If you are next to me at a show, you WILL be offered what I have. You don’t have to do give away stuff that costs money, just give of yourself. Help out, tell a joke, just share something. We can’t lose this part of our culture. I feel like when the hippies stopped coming our tribe lost its elders. I guess that makes us the elders now. Show these youngsters what love is.

A little long-winded, right? Thanks for reading. I’m not really a writer. Please chip in your two cents. I’m probably gonna talk about how I’m not going back for the next 11 months. But I’ll be there in 2013. And we’re gonna get down!

Post by thesidebar on Jun 12, 2012 8:44:03 GMT -5

Uplifting sound... Awesome points to you my friend....

This was my 2nd roo but the first to actually camp. I am also a volunteer for the concessions vendor (beer tents). I have always been one of those over prepared guys who brings way more gear than necessary. this was the case this past week. I was very happy to share my food, water, beer and shade with anyone who came by in need. At the Flogging Molly show, these three girls emerged fromteh crown near us. they were BEET red, burinign up and getting sunburnt. they had been up close and stumbled out of there with no water, no sunscreen and werent even carrying a bag I dont think. I gave up my shade tree for them, gave them sunscreen, let them use my cold rag and even gave them a 1/2 frozen bottle of water. they stayed for a few to cool off then just left. barely a thank you except that I had a magic bag as I pulled things out of it for them.

My poor camp neighbors ran out of beer and water both. having the local volunteer pass, I went to the store for them since they could not leave. But they did help me setup camp when I was in need as well. 99% of the folks I met were there willing to share. they offered me corn to eat, booze and water to drink. I alike shared my food, shade (I had a 15x15 covered seating area at camp in addition to my tent and awning) electricity ( I think at one point I was charging 4 or 5 phones at a time), water, Moonshine and general hospitality (epsom salt foot soak). Overall, A very good crowd was camped over with me in Pod1.

BTW, if you were camped near the Pod 1, I was the one due south of the food truck with the blue LED's on the pole.

Post by voidoid on Jun 12, 2012 8:53:53 GMT -5

Could we blame all of this on dub step culture (is that what it's called?)? I had a very similar experience, at shows i've been to with a strong hippy crowd there was sharing of corn and other things. At Bonnaroo this year this was not really the case. I blame Skrillex heh heh

Post by kidabstract on Jun 12, 2012 9:16:05 GMT -5

Ah hell that sucks man. I'm freshly 22 and this is my first bonnaroo, or music festival period for that matter. I'd say that I participate plenty in the hipster or rager or what have you scene. I also by no means look like a hippy, I have very short hair and no tattoo's or piercings.

But I was smoking bowls with literally everybody around me no matter what show, as well as with all of my neighbors by my tent. Hell some kid next to me during phish actually asked if he could buy some weed off of me for the show to smoke with his friends because his got taken by the cops, but I refused and smoked them all out for the whole show for free.

It's unfortunate that some people in my generation that attend bonnaroo don't "get it".

Post by voidoid on Jun 12, 2012 9:37:27 GMT -5

In the end it's not what music we listen to. You can be a dub step ragin speedo wearing bathsalt pushing frat kid and still share. We all just have to take it on ourselves to pay it forward and build the roo community we want.

Post by thesidebar on Jun 12, 2012 9:40:12 GMT -5

We all just have to take it on ourselves to pay it forward and build the roo community we want.

100% agree. I had a seriously rough time getting in due to circumstances beyond my control. Wednesday was NOT a good day to begin with. I had BAD Karma... but paying it forward made it a very good Roo for me.

Post by voidoid on Jun 12, 2012 9:52:02 GMT -5

We must've run into different people. I thought the crowd this year was quite friendly.

Oh I did too. Our camp neighbors were amazingly cool, heck we would just together at the camp because we all liked each other so much. Also, I'm definitely a bit of a metal/punk head and of all the mosh pits I've been in, moshing at bonnaroo was the best most friendly environment. The love and friendliness is not dead.

Post by voidoid on Jun 12, 2012 9:52:49 GMT -5

We must've run into different people. I thought the crowd this year was quite friendly.

Oh I did too. Our camp neighbors were amazingly cool, heck we would just together at the camp because we all liked each other so much. Also, I'm definitely a bit of a metal/punk head and of all the mosh pits I've been in, moshing at bonnaroo was the best most friendly environment. The love and friendliness is not dead.

Post by grandpa frank on Jun 12, 2012 10:30:52 GMT -5

This was my fourth year, 2009 being the first. I agree that a good portion of the crowd has gotten less and less friendly, but I typically see that with the younger kids.

My neighbors were fantastic this year, my group of 11 shared with anyone who was willing to share. However I only had one bad experience, and that was with Phish. Phish was the number one band I wanted to see. I missed them both times in 2009 because I was a bonnarookie and went too hard, and it never seems to work out when they come through Chicago. So I was STOKED.

My group had kept an eye on the weather, and we saw the rains moving in. We thought it would be a lot worse that it was so we moved into the Cafe Where about twenty minutes before the rain started. Sure enough, when the rain started a lot of people had the same idea. We camped on on the front side of the tent, so we would be "front row" in the shelter. As my group stayed inside the cafe, a friend and I would get up and dance in the rain and just under the shelter, right in front of our sitting group. About thirty minutes after everyone else moved in, so kid walked up to me and asked me to sit down because he couldn't see.

Now, if we were in the pit and he asked me to move, or if I was dancing like a fool and we were 200 yards closer, this wouldn't have bugged me, but we were the VERY LAST ROWS for Phish, and under a canopy. Tired, and not wanting to start shit, I just sat down. My group was shocked, and just thought I was being nice. Whatever, maybe this kid was in the sun all weekend and he just needed to sit. He was 18, so I figured he would leave in a little bit when Phish hit a thirty minute song. Sure enough Phish is jamming at this point. I turn around and look back. The tent cleared out, but this MF has decided to take a nap! So you asked me to sit down so you can see, but instead decide to cuddle with your girlfriend and take a nap.

I know I sound like a douche for not wanting to sit down at a show, but when you're really really excited for something, and you do something nice for some one else so they can enjoy the show, and then they basically slap you in the face by taking a nap... I don't know man...

Crazy enough though, when I was at Skrillex, my group camped under the bobble heads, and the people around us were really nice, and we ended up having a more relaxed, chill, and dancing time.

Post by kw1978 on Jun 12, 2012 10:39:58 GMT -5

Here is my rant for the weekend. I am a roo vet 06,07,09 and now 12. Some things that persuaded me to not go anymore and find another festival.For one the Bar outside of centeroo. It was a big bro fest. Me and my fiance where walking by and these bro's were yelling at women that were walking by saying show me your boobies and stuff like that. I never thought in a thousand years I would hear that at roo.

two: We go to see the roots and hang around to the RHCP we had a good location so we decided we were going to stay at this location. At the start of the peppers a big group walks up to us and asks us to move because they needed the room. We told them we wouldn't move but would slide over to make room in which we did. They were not happy that we wouldnt move so they kept on accidently spilling beer over us and saying that it was crowded and if we moved we wouldnt have beer spilt on us.

I have a few more rants but those two things are the worse of them. Also what ever happened the american spirits tent they werent giving smokes away ??

Post by wolfmanjess on Jun 12, 2012 10:43:36 GMT -5

I didnt meet these people other than the kids that were trying to push me back and jump on my feet at Art Vs Science. Still after a accidental elbow to the kidney for the tall kid to my left trying to literally push my head down they calmed down.

Post by LunaPooka on Jun 12, 2012 10:59:09 GMT -5

Funny story about an entitled spoiled brat at The Civil Wars. She looked to be about 17 or 18 years old and was there with her family which included her disabled brother in the Access Program. The viewing platform was full of, you know, disabled people. So they were not allowing the usual companion person on the platforms due to the weight capacity of the platform. This girl climbs over me (I'm sitting next to the platform so she can climb up and sit on the railing. Security asks her to get down. She does and then climbs right back up. Security asks her to get down again and she does, but she STARTS CRYING. Not because she wants to be with her brother who is a wheelchair, but because she won't be able to see the show. Mom is nearby, but isn't telling her to stfu (which is so what I would be doing if my kid were acting like that) She's pitching such a fit that a man in a wheelchair with NO LEGS offers to give up his spot on the platform so her able-bodied ass can get up there and see. HER MOM WAS OKAY WITH THIS!? She only asked the guy if he was sure and thanked him. These entitled obnoxious people, with general admission wristbands who have a disabled son were going to let this man with no legs give up his spot on the platform so their perfectly normal spoiled brat of a daughter could see better than everyone else at the show. I was a little negatively biased towards these people. Thankfully security nixed it and she had to watch the show like everyone else in the crowd who isn't disabled. I overheard her saying something about how the "platform wouldn't be shaking if there weren't so many fat people on it" Later in the show, she essentially stood on my stuff to get her little feet on the bottom rail of the fence so she could see like she deserves. Ugh. She get s a bit of a pass since she's an obnoxious teenage girl, but I can't believe her mother allowed that. It's about time you teach your kid that life isn't fair and you have to stretch your neck and move around to see just like everyone else does. To make things worse, for the last song, she climbed up and stood at the back of the platform and her mom allowed it. Rules don't apply to them apparently. They both got some dirty looks from me, the only ones I gave out all weekend long. Everyone else got smiles aplenty.

Post by surfbumdj on Jun 12, 2012 11:09:41 GMT -5

We spent most of the time at Roo giving things away, because I was terribly overprepared. Plus at the Miller Lite thing we were packing up food and giving it away.

We gave away:Skittlesbeerwatervodka (the bottom 1/3 of a 1.75 bottle of Absolut) TONS of starburstcheeseburgerspulled pork sandwichesbubble wandsfrisbeesglow stickshigh fivessmiles

in return, the roo spirit blessed us with:body paintcorn (I dropped my bag on Friday night at Radiohead and had none from there on out - people gave us some and smoked us out pretty much the whole time we were there)cups of ice for our gin and toniccigarettes (I got 3 while I was there, although I don't smoke anymore )smileslaughshigh fives

Our experience was a very friendly, sharing, open, fun time.

Only had one less than positive experience. While stumbling back to camp on Sunday, I walked up to see a guy about to steal my empty cooler. I handled the situation well by telling him not to take my cooler. He argued a little saying someone stole his and I made it clear he was not leaving my camp with my cooler, and he wandered off. My girl said she thought she saw him pilfering through empty camp sites but I did not see that. I was peaking at the time, and have no idea how I handled that situation well LOL

Post by postjack on Jun 12, 2012 11:19:04 GMT -5

my experience was overwhelmingly positive with the crowd. lots of friendly conversations with strangers, lots of comradery in the pits.

had one jerky entitled couple trying to push through the crowd in the pit to get into the guest area postshow instead of waiting like 3 minutes for security to get the barricades open. but if that is the worst it got I'd say I has a pretty damn good weekend.

got lots of love for my ween shirt on Saturday. boognish will rise again my friends. look towards the mist, for he will appear when you least expect...

Post by Delicious Meatball Sub on Jun 12, 2012 12:26:29 GMT -5

The crowd definitely changed significantly during my 03-11 Roo hiatus, and for lots of reasons I think the change is good. The number 1 thing I like about the scene now is how many more people within an hour radius of Manchester seem to be coming now. It definitely seems to be a result of intentional scheduling decisions made by AC, and I tip my cap to them for it.

Post by ridebikesdrinkbeer on Jun 12, 2012 12:28:31 GMT -5

I am now a 7 Roo vet: 02,03,06,08,09,11,12 and 2012 ranks as one of my top three. 02 and 03 being my favorites.

Now, first to address the OP, there has been a huge change in the festival over the years but who would want it to be otherwise? The jam band scene is only one minor portion of the music that people want to see. Also, who wants to see Widespread or Karl Denson or Keller Williams for a 6th or 8th or 25th time at this point? I think we all need a little diversity. Beyond the music I think the OP is correct that the change happened around 06 or so. I don't think it's the bands AC entertainment invites though. I think the biggest change came with the 'No Vending' rule.

Back-in-the-day there was a reason to go talk to that beautiful hippy girl: She was selling hemp necklaces. Corn was easier to find also because right behind that girl was her man selling smokable hemp products. Once they banned legitimate money exchanges in the lots the illegitimate ones went further underground... and people in general started to just keep more to themselves.

I generally keep to myself or really just cut it up with my friends at Roo so I understand that if someone came up to me blabbering on about something I could care less about, he's not going to try and sell me what I'm looking for, I don't pay them much attention. I wouldn't tell them to leave me alone but I would politely excuse myself for not wanting to go on and on about some drunken ramble.

I would not call that 'not wanting to share' I'd call that 'being in my own headspace' (and BTW, I would have gladly accepted your offer of water). Here's the thing though, if you're looking for corn, find someone selling it. Being turned down for offering a beer in exchange for a bud is not rude. Corn is a valuable commodity. They are selling beer everywhere. If you said, here, check out this purple corn. I'll trade you a chunk for some of that orange corn, I bet you would have gotten a yes every time. Apples for apples, man. Oranges for oranges.

So anyway, for me, 2012 ranks up there with some of my best Roo experiences. Why?1. The music was top notch and the sound was excellent for every show I saw.2. The parking attendants did not pack us in like sardines. The land grab upon arrival was not necessary and camping was very spacious, thus friendly.3. The vibe was very chill. I didn't see anyone cranked out on ice. I didn't see any fights. I only saw one totally pissed off girlfriend (my buddy's ).4. The corn flowed like water and anything else I looked for was at my fingertips in minutes. Pod 10/11 people.... amiright?5. The Sunday morning rain drove away those that were cooked already so there were very few 'mopers' on Sunday.6. The Phish kids showed up on Sunday with their dogs and dreads and GOOD corn. Who doesn't like to get licked in the face by a grey spotted 100 pound pitbull?7. and by God, I hate to say it, but the lack of nudity was refreshing. I love boobies at LEAST as much as the next guy but the testosterone level seemed to be in check.

Post by upliftingsound on Jun 12, 2012 12:35:12 GMT -5

And on the other side of the coin, you know what I like most about all the noobies? Their enthusiasm, it's infectious. And really I like practically everyone I met. The bros brought their A game, they were cool.

I wonder if there will ever be another monumental turning year like 06 and if so where it will lead.

Dubstep is like the disco of our generation. People love it, people hate it, and people love to hate it. It seems to me like everyone has a good sense of humor on the subject regardless of which of those 3 views they take.

I'm just homesick for the land of Sparkleponies and no moop. Scrog knows what that means.

Post by itrainmonkeys on Jun 12, 2012 12:38:02 GMT -5

7 Year Roo vet here as well.

Bonnaroo is what you make it. Like everywhere else in life there will be assholes. But for the most part everyone I talked to and shared concert experiences with were awesome. There was a couple of things I'd disagree with (the people talking to me about the Skrillex show and recommending it highly) but they definitely didn't cause any problems. Shared corn with some of those people and could tell how genuinely excited they were for some of their acts.

One of the things that bothers me is the lack of preparation of some of these people. I can't believe how many people I talked to that didn't know which acts were in the undercard or not. If I was spending the money to go to the festival I would be looking up and down the lineup. But I guess I was like that at one point in my first years as well

Post by smokinhotrunt on Jun 12, 2012 12:56:15 GMT -5

This was my 4th Roo('04, '08, '09, '12) and I'm skeptical if I'll be back. For the most part I had an excellent time but we had a few incidents that really put a sour taste in my mouth.

-On Thursday while we were in Centeroo, our coolers got ransacked. Beer and Water, GONE. Luckily we had reserves in the cars.

-Sunday, walking back from Phish, my friend got mugged for a small bag of corn. 5 wanna-be thugs surrounded him and were like "What are you gonna do about it?". So he just smiled, and said "Alright dudes, Happy Bonnaroo to you too".

On the other hand, we had some awesome moments of giving and receiving. I'm all about paying it forward and tried to give out good karma where I could. I look at it this way, no matter where you are there are always going to be a few bad eggs in the crowd. Hopefully we don't run into any next year.

Post by ridebikesdrinkbeer on Jun 12, 2012 13:07:03 GMT -5

Only had one less than positive experience. While stumbling back to camp on Sunday, I walked up to see a guy about to steal my empty cooler. I handled the situation well by telling him not to take my cooler. He argued a little saying someone stole his and I made it clear he was not leaving my camp with my cooler, and he wandered off. My girl said she thought she saw him pilfering through empty camp sites but I did not see that. I was peaking at the time, and have no idea how I handled that situation well LOL

Funny.... that was ME! No, just kidding. I do have a cooler story though: I was out at 9th and 3rd and my friends were at 2nd and Main so I took an 'advance camp' to their tent (a cooler with beer/coconut water/soda) and after Phish I stumbled to their tent and no one was home so I went in and grabbed it. As I zipped up their tent a guy walked up and was friendly yet assertive.. him: (In a very thick Arabic accent) 'Who's cooler is that?' me: 'Mine' him: 'Iiiiiiiiiiiiii don't think so....' me: 'Oh, you must know Brandon and Sarah.' and he very slowly broke into a huge grin. 'Yes, and now I know, you must, too. They are giving me a ride to North Carolina. I am Amed.' and we shook hands and locked eyes. He continued 'I plead with you, you're not driving tonight, yes? Your eyes are totally dilated.'

Post by mjb8797 on Jun 12, 2012 13:09:01 GMT -5

I don't know what it was, but it seemed Thursday, Friday, and Sunday seemed like the average Roo crowd...but Saturday during the day was the biggest dirty hippie fest i've ever witnessed. It's like they all came out of the woodwork, and were gone by Saturday night. Still confused by that one...but I had a great time this year. Bonnaroo is incredible.

Post by thepeppers on Jun 12, 2012 13:13:45 GMT -5

I made some jokes about the amount of bros I saw, but I will say this - they all seemed genuinely stoked to be there. My frustration was more that these were the kind of people who wanted to see Foster the People over Radiohead, or Childish Gambino over the Roots - which caused several lobes in my frontal hemisphere to spontaneously hemhorrage and leak blood out of my eyes. Music tendencies aside, they seemed like fine people and I had few personal problems with anyone.

Not trying to call you out or anything, but that don't make a lot of sense. I'm not a fan of Radiohead, just never really got into them and I really liked FTP first album so I decided to go to it...and I had a hell of a time. I think if anything Radiohead fans should like that because thats just a better spot for them to get in the pit.

I wish Skrillex would have played at 12 on Saturday night/Sunday morning so maybe I could have got a better place for RHCP, still got a hell of a spot for them. I don't understand how anybody would choose Skrillex over RHCP, but different people like different things.

This was my first roo, and I had a hell of a time. Camping and all that Wednesday night - Sunday morning got old, but I knew that was coming. I didn't like how during the middle of a show there was always guys trying to push and shove there way to the front of the pit. Either get the early or try to crowd surf. I was behind a couple in the fun. concert, pretty close in the front pit...and three or four guys came in right during the middle of the show pushing and shoving, and actually knocked the girl down. They helped her up and apologized but she didn't even want to stay after that happen and they left, it really upset me.

All in and all, it was a great experience. Depending on the lineup next year, I may try and go again!

Post by jma123 on Jun 12, 2012 13:22:01 GMT -5

I went in '06 and again this year and I noticed a difference too. I still met super friendly people this year and of course I had a blast, so I am not complaining in the least. Seemed like the younger crowd just didn't have very good manners in general and I also noticed less of that community vibe. Someone actually shot me a dirty look for misting them on Friday when it was balls hot out and sunny and we were stuck in line to get into Centeroo. I was just being nice! Anyhoo I am at work so can't get into more long winded specifics, but I didn't hear many pleases and thank you's when sharing did happen and I didn't see much sharing to begin with. from what I saw, it seemed to be a generational thing more than anything (younger people, I'd say mid-twenties and under). Interestingly, I saw a lot of those kids dressed like "hippies" in style, but they sure didn't act like them. To comment on the OP's original point, I can understand girls not wanting to take water but that's like what I saw w/bad manners, just say "no thank you" politely if you don't want something. No need to ask WHY as if there is an ulterior motive. Besides if you had one did they really think you would tell them just cause they asked you why? Haha!Overall I had a blast, sad I had to miss so many yrs in between but it's was just to expensive. I am def going back next year though!

Post by Guiitar Man on Jun 12, 2012 13:47:04 GMT -5

This was my 5th Bonnaroo and I truly embrace the Bonnaroo spirit. I shared my corn with people that I thought needed it and also shared cigarettes to an extent. I talked to many strangers and shook many hands. I also denied sharing corn and cigarettes, as well as, blew off some people trying to talk to me. If OP was one I denied, then there is a reason behind it. I will share corn with people around me, but if you make a point to come over to my group and just say "Can I hit that?" then I'm going to say no. This probably happened to me about 10 times over the weekend. That being said, I probably shared 20 ears of corn with people sitting around me that I chatted with or just looked like they could use some.

I do not feel obligated to share because I'm at Bonnaroo. I share with people that I think need it regardless.